Sending you 25 hugs and a kiss, OK 26 hugs...

A, (I thought at the time), well thought out, sketched, documented, photographed, fabric especially selected project. I had a plan. I had the perfect fabrics, I even sketched out and thought about piecing the top so I wouldn't get myself into any "y" seaming "situations" and I almost pulled it all off. Almost, almost.

"25 hugs and a kiss"

Front,
you don't notice the binding because it changes color with the quilt top.

96" x 96", original design

Fabrics (top): Maude Asbury Crabtastic by Blend, Dictionary Eclectic Elements by Jim Holtz, Riley Blake Remember Words grey, April in Paris French Words natural, Letter from Paris Script cream, Michael Miller Old Script black, On time words grey, Sunprint text white/black, Timeless Treasures Wine Lovers Wine Words black, Back to School Cursive Alphabet white, Premier Prints Penmanship Primary neutral, Objects Newspaper Page, Kona solids (Snow, Steel, Medium gray, Iron Gray, Ash, Coal, Charcoal) Noir Timeless Treasures of Sotto, Donna Wilder for Fabric Traditions, Pixel Dot Freespirit , Westminster Fibers, Bungalow by Joel Dewbery Freespirit, Brandon Mably for Rowan Westminster Fibers, Primitiva by Jane Dixon for Andover Fabrics, Should Blossoms by Amy Butler for Rowan, The Culture Club Anastia (green/orange/red) by Robert Kaufman, Aviary 2 Joel Dewbury for Free spirit, Little Elephants by Michale Miller, Architextures by Robert Kaufman, Adornit Basics in Burnish, Subway signs by Eclectic Elements, The Dressmaking Collection- Vintage Notions for Red Rooster Fabrics, Metro Liviing Circles black, Downton Abbey Lady Mary tonal black, Quilters Linen Print Dots Charcoal, and various other quilting cottons from my stash.

pin basted, ready to go!

Fabrics (back): 108" wide, Spot on by Robert Kaufman in gray. And an "orphan" hug block from the front. Couldn't help it, HAD to use the left over block even thought the beautiful wide fabric of the backing seemed to be screaming to be left alone.

Back

orphan block pieced into quilt back

Threads: Changed, top to bottom to compliment the deepening background piecing that was happening on the pieced top. All Aurifil 50 wt. mako cotton in 2630, 2612, 2600, 2605, 1198, 4241 and 2021. (Literally the gray scale spectrum from white to black).

the quilting is hidden and lends texture only

Binding: 2" straight of grain, pieced light to dark, complimenting the threading choice and the fabric choices.

Hand sewing the binding to the back.
At this point it's almost done and this is one of my favorite parts of the quilt!

Quilting: Bernina #4 stitch, 5mm wide, 2.5 stitch length, stretched 4X. Quilted with a walking foot on a Bernina 180.

The quilting adds texture only

Batting: 100% cotton warm and natural.

Ideas, lessons learned etc., etc. - the final idea is that for this quilt,  the quilting style, the thread selection and the pieced binding don't stand out on their own. They repeat, and reinforce the process of the light to dark gradation of the quilt top. Having those elements align make the top a cohesive statement, each part complimenting but not competing with the overall design. The binding, and the threads and the actual quilting was not a preplanned part of this quilt. When I was sketching and fabric buying I wasn't even considering how to finish the quilt. I only had the top in mind. I just love as you create how something that was unknown becomes clear. And with clarity comes completion.

2014 has been a journey of epic proportions for me so far. I have much to do in 2015. I hope it's at least as much fun and fulfilling as 2014 has been.